I often think of the Christmas I opened that sweet gift, the Nintendo Player's Guide. I loved the Nintendo, although I had never owned a console in my life. I was stoked just to have something gaming related in my Christmas haul, and a treat that it was out of the blue. Of course, I was disappointed with my next gift, The Legend of Zelda. I mean, didn't my parents know that I couldn't just put this in our VCR and play it? The disappointment was shattered with the next gift. It should have been so obvious, but thankfully I was either too sleepy or sick to figure it out. That beautiful gray box with it's equally gray gun was in my hands. And then the fever began.

I'd like to think this was a defining moment in my gaming life. My sister would come into my room at night asking if I wanted to sneak down and play. And no matter how much I wanted to, I was too sick to move. And the result of that fever is my obsession with gaming today.

Of course, I actually loved games for a long time before that, but this was the first time I was able to really indulge my gaming need without the need of quarters.

Ah I loved quarters, still do, in fact. My first memories are playing Joust at a local roller skating rink. I also loved to roller skate. And then I started going to a dentist that had Ms. Pac-Man and Mario Bros., I was hooked...to this day, I love everything about Mario (up to the 64-bit era). And of course, Chuck E. Cheese was my favorite place in the world. The creepy singing animatronics, the room after room of games and fun, the pizza, the parties. And of course, Donkey Kong, and Rush 'n' Attack, Kick (the clown on the unicycle catching balloons on his hat!), Berzerk, Spy Hunter, Dragon's Lair, and so many more.

That's it for now...check back later for when I bought my first console, how I got to play SMB3 before it came out, how I played SMW for ages at Best Buy, and much much more useless personal gaming related trivia.